The Passing
by Mr. Zed
Summary: Based on the new L4D2 DLC coming out. When the stock car is damaged and the APC is out of gas, how far will the survivors go to escape? Will they be friends or enemies? A/N: Second chapter up, excluding prologue.
1. The Passing: The Prologue

The Passing

* * *

The Prologue

* * *

Rochelle scraped the dried blood off her leather boots with a pocket knife she had borrowed from Ellis.

"So, how often did Jimmy Gibbs Jr. pull in for pit stops?" Nick asked, trying to find a comfortable position in the passenger seat.

"A racing legend like Jimmy Gibbs doesn't wait at the pit. they say he had the best mileage in the circuit," Ellis replied, flattening another zombie under the tires.

The four survivors, Ellis, Coach, Nick, and Rochelle were southbound, heading for New Orleans.

"That's a load of Bullsh-- CHARGER!" Nick exclaimed as a muscular infected raced towards their car. Ellis swerved to avoid it but slammed into a nearby oak tree.

"Ugh…Is everyone okay?" Coach inquired as he began to step out of the vehicle.

"I'm okay," Rochelle replied, putting on her semi-clean boots.

"A little messed up…UGH…But not dead yet," Nick said, stepping out of the racecar.

"Woohoo! What a RUSH!" Ellis yelled as he leaped out of the car. Coach inspected the damage on the car and looked towards a large sign in the distance.

"I think our only choice is to go too…" Coach squinted his eyes as he strained to read the neon sign. "Uncle Tommy's auto parts." At least there we can get some tools…

"Before this infection stuff, I was a mechanic. Best dang one in savannah, too." Ellis said, shoving a clip into his SCAR 5.56mm combat rifle.

"Okay, so we get to the auto parts store, Ellis fixes the car, and we continue on our way to New Orleans." Rochelle said, reloading her Semi-Automatic SPAS combat shotgun.

"Let's get started then!" Ellis exclaimed, running off with a baseball bat in hand.

"I hate the peach state…" Francis mumbled as Louis, Zoey, and himself sat in the back seat of an armed personnel carrier.

"Francis, you said that about the Free state, the Cavalier state, the Tar Heel state, and the Rice state," Louis stated before he sighed. "Honestly, you should stop that before your attitude rubs off."

Zoey was sketching on some paper. That's all she's ever done in the vehicle since the group looted an art store in Virginia, and she'd demanded they stop at every art store since. At least it was nice to step out and stretch everything.

The vehicle came to a halt as Bill opened up the back hatch to the passenger area.

"Is it an art store?" Zoey asked.

"No, it's a gas station. We're out of gas and this Gumbranch place is the last town for miles. So step out, load your guns, and let's get some diesel." The elderly veteran said as he loaded his Assault rifle.

"Finally! Some action!" Francis shouted as he loaded his Benelli M4 Semi-Automatic shotgun. Meanwhile, Zoey stuffed her sketches in her backpack and silently loaded her Ruger-Mini 14 hunting rifle. Louis was already outside, stretching out and breathing the outside air. "So, Gumbranch Diesel?" Louis asked, loading his own Assault Rifle.

"Gumbranch Diesel." Bill replied, walking off towards the sign, the others following suit.


	2. The Passing: The Confrontation

A/N: Gumbranch IS a real small town in Georgia, so if you happen to be from Gumbranch, please do not be offended by this fan fiction.

The Passing

* * *

The Confrontation

* * *

"I'ma reload!" Ellis shouted as he took a 5.56mm clip from his pocket and loaded it into the SCAR.

"I'ma reload!" Nick mocked in a fake southern accent as he shot a Jockey leaping at him.

"You think it's funny?" Ellis asked as he shot Nick in the foot.

"Gah! Motherf--" Nick grunted as he dropped his gun and began hopping around on one foot. "So now we're shooting each other, huh?!" Nick exclaimed as he picked up his gun and shot Ellis in the foot.

"Motheruvjimmygibbs! My foot!" Ellis shouted as he hopped around, clutching his hurt foot. Coach and Rochelle took their guns and handed them a baseball bat and a machete.

"You two'll be using these now, ya hear?" Coach said. A disgruntled Nick and Ellis continued limping along the path, slashing at common infected.

"Ammo here," Nick mumbled as he picked up some shotgun rounds and stuffed them in the pockets of his suit.

"Let's take all of it, nobody else is gonna need it," Rochelle reasoned as she began lining her pockets with ammo.

The four took as much ammunition as they could hold and continued towards Uncle Tommy's auto parts.

"Reloading! Aw sonofa…I'm out of ammo!" Francis exclaimed after shooting down a Smoker.

"Here…Let me give you some of mine…" Bill grumbled as he began searching his pockets. "Gah! I'm out too!" He exclaimed as he punched an infected in the face, sending him to the ground before stomping on his head.

"We're all out of ammo!" Zoey cried as she slammed a zombie in the stomach with her hunting rifle before shoving the metal barrel in it's left eye, sending it to the ground, writhing in pain. Louis shot a pistol round into the downed zombie, putting it out of it's misery.

"Well, I'm out." Louis said, shaking his weapons.

"Look over here!" Bill said, lifting a steel crowbar and grinning devilishly.

"What? It's just a crowbar." Zoey said.

"I hate crowbars." Francis grumbled.

"Ladies and gentlemen…I think it's time we use close combat weapons." Bill said as he bashed in the skull of a zombie rushing towards him.

"POW!" Louis shouted enthusiastically, picking up a hammer and smashing it into a Hunter's head as it leaped at him.

"Stop! Hammer time." Zoey stated, giggling. Francis began humming _"Can't touch this" _By MC Hammer when suddenly they saw four figures in the distance.

"Home run!" Ellis cried as he smashed an infected with a baseball bat. But then, Coach put a hand on Ellis's shoulder and whispered, "Shh…Over there…" As he revealed to him four figures in the distance, fighting a horde of infected rushing at them.

"Should we approach them?" Rochelle asked in a hushed voice.

"Let me do the talking…Hand me my shotgun." Nick said as he approached, shotgun loaded. "HEY! YOU FOUR! HANDS UP!"

"Just when we're out of ammo…" Bill grumbled as he threw his hands into the sky. "Just do what he says for now, we'll pull a bluff if we have to." He continued. Louis and Zoey threw up their arms, but not Francis.

"Francis, just do it!" Zoey hissed at her Biker companion.

"Wait…I know that voice!" Francis said. "Nick! Is that you?!"

"Frank!" Nick exclaimed as he ran towards the four as fast as he could. "Frank? Is that really you?" He asked as Coach, Ellis, and Rochelle approached confusedly.

"You know it!" Francis said, lifting his head up to reveal a tattoo under his chin on the right side, which appeared to be an unlabeled compass rose with skulls in between each direction. "You have your ring?" Francis asked.

"Sure do!" Nick laughed as he held up a ring on his right hand with the same symbol.

"What's going on here, Francis?" Zoey inquired.

"Seriously Nicholas, what's going on?" Rochelle asked.

"Nicholas?" Francis snickered.

"Francis?" Nick chuckled.

"Seriously, what's going on here?" Louis asked.

"We used to belong to the same gang, Nick and I." Francis grinned as he compared his tattoo and Nick's ring.

"Is this true, Nick?" Coach asked.

"For sure." Nick said.

"So what brings you down south? I thought you moved up north to Pennsylvania." Nick asked.

"We're surrounded by freakin' vampires and you really have to ask why?" Francis responded.

"Vampires? I thought they were zombies." Nick said.

"Hah!" Louis chortled.


	3. The Passing:The Evaluation&Introductions

A/N: 3rd chapter. Party!

The Passing

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The Evaluation and The Introductions

* * *

The eight survivors sat in a circle around a large map of the East Coast that Zoey had sketched up.

"Alright, so last week was the official second week after the first infection. Were there any infected down here then?" Bill asked Coach.

"No siree, last week we were all safe and sound." Coach replied.

"So in the course of one week, the infection spread from Pennsylvania to Louisiana. And there's no telling the condition of west and north of Penn." Bill mumbled. "So Pennsylvania to Louisiana…That's about one thousand miles. That means if it spread the same out west…" Bill began adding up numbers in his head. "That means that the infection would be out by Nebraska by now." He said, clinching his eyes with his thumb and index finger.

"Good Lord…" Rochelle said.

"But at that pace…That means in one and a half weeks from now the infection will spread from Louisiana to California, and breach the border of Mexico." Bill said.

Zoey buried her face in her hands and Louis wiped some sweat off his face.

Francis whistled and said, "Those are some fast moving vampires,"

Everyone else in the circle shot him a dirty look and synchronously said; "ZOMBIES."

Francis rolled his eyes and groaned; "Fiiiiine, Zoooombies." As if on queue, a horde of infected barreled at them. Bill and Louis charged at the horde with hammer and crowbar in hand as Coach, Rochelle, Ellis, and Nick precisely shot the zombies around them, careful not to hurt these new survivors.

A little infected, hunched over and laughing like a maniac, sprinted towards Francis and leapt on his back. It covered his mouth and pulled his ears and at his mouth, controlling him in such a way he willed him to run away from the group. The stench was so overpowering Francis's eyes began to water.

"Get it off!" He exclaimed. "Get it OFF!" He exclaimed again. Nick turned around and shot it off with a burst of fire from his SPAS combat shotgun. The rest of the Horde was mowed down by the other survivors.

* * *

"Thanks for that. That little son of a bitch smelled like onions and feet." Francis said, washing his face with some bottled water.

"Well, I guess we're even with that Stevenson deal then?" Nick asked.

"Times one hundred." Francis replied, setting the water down. "So where're you guys heading?" He asked.

"Uncle Tommy's auto parts. Our car ran into a tree," Nick said, cleaning his Shotgun. "Where're you off to?" He asked.

"Gumbranch Diesel. Our APC ran out of gas." Francis replied, now polishing his own.

"You've got an APC?" Nick asked and whistled.

"I named it the hate-mobile. We've been riding in it since Pennsylvania." Francis answered.

"We've got a stock car. Ever heard of Jimmy Gibbs?" Nick asked.

"Who?" Francis, in turn, asked.

"Yeah, that's what I said." Nick said after he took a drink of water.

* * *

Rochelle approached Zoey, who was sitting on a stump drawing.

"Hey there, I'm Rochelle. What's your name?" Rochelle inquired.

"Zoey." Zoey glumly replied.

"Why so down, miss frown?" Rochelle asked.

"Death. Destruction. Everything." Zoey said, only to show her a picture of zombies consuming two adults, one male and one female, as they clutched at the ground with their mouths agape, presumably screaming.

"Stop that!" Rochelle shouted and swatted away Zoey's sketchpad.

"Take away my outlet. That's cool." Zoey sighed as she walked over to her sketchpad to pick it up.

"Oh no, you're not touching that." Rochelle said as she swiped the drawing pad. "Here. I've got something that'll cheer you up…" She drifted off as she began sketching.

"What's the point, there's nothing you can…" Zoey began until she saw Rochelle turn around the sketchpad to reveal a drawing of a Boomer in a Santa Claus suit. Zoey tried to hold back her feelings and retain her attitude for argument's sake, but she broke out in laughter and fell backwards onto the ground.

About fifteen seconds later she picked herself up and sighed.

"Thanks Rochelle. I needed that…I guess seeing all this carnage got me down." Zoey said.

"Don't mention it, girl." Rochelle said as she smirked.

* * *

Ellis fell over laughing as Louis sat on the paved ground, clutching his stomach and laughing as well.

"Man, that Keith is a crazy guy!" Louis said, exhaling deeply.

"Tell me about it." Ellis replied, putting his baseball cap back on.

"Did I tell you about the time Francis thought we were all asleep when he was on safe room guard duty?" Louis asked.

"No, what happened?" Ellis inquired.

"Okay, so Francis was watching outside while he thought we were asleep, so I saw him reach in his vest and pull out a small…Yellow…Teddy bear!" Louis exclaimed.

"Hah, that big of a biker with a little yellow teddy bear? What happened?" Ellis asked.

"Well, you see, what he did next was even better." Louis began. "He HUGGED it and began SINGING to it!" Louis shouted.

"Bwahahahaha!" Ellis laughed as he fell backwards, Louis following suit.

* * *

Bill sat down next to Coach and lit a cigarette.

"Want a smoke?" He asked as he put the cig in his mouth.

"Smoking is really bad for your health you know." Coach said, reaching for the cigarette in Bill's mouth.

"So is a negative mental attitude and nicotine withdrawal in a zombie apocalypse." Bill said before Coach could reach the smoke.

"Good point. Pass me a cig, would you?" Coach asked. Bill lit a cigarette and passed it to Coach, who in turn put it in his mouth. Coach had obviously never smoked before, and on his first inhalation gagged and threw it out of his mouth.

"So, are you the leader of your group?" Bill asked.

"I'd rather think myself as the coach of my team, but essentially." Coach replied.

"We used to have a struggle like that, but half a week ago Francis gave up in the power struggle." Bill said, inhaling from his cigarette.

"So, got any advice? It seems like you've been at this longer than I have." Coach asked.

Bill shot Coach an icy look.

"Don't die." He said.

There was silence for a while, just the breeze blowing. A strong wind came and blew out Bill's cigarette.

"Good advice." Coach replied.


End file.
